In the latest crackdown on the Catholic Church by the Nicaraguan government, authorities have evicted nuns from an educational centre they oversee and confiscated the facility.
Newsroom(13/06/2023 19:30, Gaudium Press) The Missionary Daughters of Santa Luisa Marillac, who run the Technical Institute in San Sebastián de Yalí, were forcibly removed from the premises by police on May 30. The nuns were summoned to provide statements in Managua and are awaiting an official determination of the situation.
While none of the nuns have been expelled from the country at this time and they are reportedly in good health, concerns are mounting about the future of the “Santa Luisa de Marillac” Technical Institute, where the Sisters offer training programs for the community.
The incident follows a similar one from the previous week when the Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin had their Susana López Carazo school in the Rivas department of Southern Nicaragua closed down by authorities, leading to the expulsion of three nuns from the congregation.
Fray Jesús Díaz Sariego, President of the General Assembly of Spanish religious men and women (CONFER), highlighted the uncertainty faced by many religious congregation members in Nicaragua. He emphasized the paradox that these congregations, committed to the well-being of the Nicaraguan people through social work, human promotion, and care for the vulnerable, are being targeted.
Several religious congregations have already been forced to leave the country in recent months, including the Missionaries of Charity, Dominicans of the Annunciation, Trappist Nuns, and Religious Sisters of the Cross. The Ortega regime’s persecution of Catholic nuns is part of a wider campaign against the Catholic Church, despite Catholics comprising 58.5% of the country’s population of 6.5 million.
The ongoing actions of the Nicaraguan government against the Catholic Church have raised concerns about religious freedom and human rights in the country.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican news